Tag Archives: spectroscopy

Astrotropes: Space Battles part 1

Posted on July 7, 2012 by

Space battles really are one of the coolest things in sci fi aren’t they? They’re the fast paced sections full of flashy lasers, awesome sound effects, explosions, cool space ships… They also make the scale of things seem that much … Continue reading →

Posted in astrotropes, Sci Fi, space | Tagged | 12 Comments

Something from Nothing

Posted on April 6, 2010 by

Now, when most people think about space, they imagine it to be a total vacuum. Completely empty of anything whatsoever. The thing is, that’s not quite true. Those spaces between the stars aren’t quite as empty as you might think. … Continue reading →

Posted in astronomy, Imported from Livejournal | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

How to spot exo-Earths…

Posted on July 14, 2009 by

It seems like we’re not going to stop discovering new exoplanets anytime soon. Around one sixth of all exoplanets currently known can be observed transiting their star’s disk. Given that transits are precisely what NASA’s Kepler mission is going to … Continue reading →

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Protonation’s what you need

Posted on December 22, 2008 by

Ah, the humble proton. Simple, stable, and able to drastically affect the chemistry of other molecules — and nowhere more so than in the Interstellar Medium (ISM). H2 molecules, for instance are readily protonated in dense interstellar clouds, forming H3+, … Continue reading →

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Virtual Molecules

Posted on November 17, 2008 by

Here at this illustrious University, researchers have access to some pretty hefty supercomputing capabilities. It was actually the second most powerful academic supercomputer in Europe when it was initially set up. As a matter of fact, there are three disciplines … Continue reading →

Posted in chemistry, Imported from Livejournal | Tagged , | 5 Comments

R Coronae Borealis

Posted on July 16, 2008 by

R Coronae Borealis is a rare breed of star. Rare enough that it gives it’s name to it’s own class of variable stars. Around 30 R Coronae Borealis variables are known in the sky, classified because of a bizarre shared … Continue reading →

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Dicarb

Posted on July 6, 2008 by

Anyone reading this really ought to be warned in advance — this entry is more for me than anyone else, so if quantum mechanics, spectroscopy and/or fortran programming aren’t your thing, you may want to just ignore the rest… Or … Continue reading →

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Go アカリ!!

Posted on May 14, 2008 by

Perhaps this could be the sound of opportunity knocking… AKARI, formerly known as ASTRO-F is a JAXA space telescope from the same stables as the truly wonderful KAGUYA and HINODE space probes. It was sent into orbit with a supply … Continue reading →

Posted in astronomy, Imported from Livejournal | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Biiiig Books!

Posted on February 11, 2008 by

Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce you to the Aldrich Library of FT-IR Spectra. They’re big and heavy, and they cost over £500 each. Yes, each. There are three of these mighty tomes, between them containing over 5000 pages worth … Continue reading →

Posted in chemistry, Imported from Livejournal | Tagged ,

Dicarbon

Posted on December 11, 2007 by

In other news, I have a little project to be doing. This little beastie is C2 or dicarbon, a small carbon cluster. It’s also a dicarbene, because both of those carbon atoms only have 6 valence electrons. It’s a highly … Continue reading →

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